Did Twin Peaks Star Naomi Watts Just Hint That We’ll Never See Agent Cooper Again?

By now, stories of highly secretive production on Showtime’s Twin Peaks: The Return have passed into legend, thanks to the (limited) interviews from members of the cast. Chrysta Bell (Agent Tammie Preston) and Matthew Lillard (Bill Hastings) both explained to Vanity Fair that actors on the show were given only their lines and the lines “immediately following and preceding” while filming; only star Kyle MacLachlan was allowed to see the revival’s full script. But MacLachlan’s on-screen wife, Naomi Watts, explained to the audience at San Diego Comic-Con Friday that the secrecy went even deeper than that.

According to Watts, she was given her redacted version of the script—but was never told who would be playing Dougie Jones before she signed on for the role of his wife. Dougie, as anyone following the show knows, is the brain damaged alter-ego of Agent Dale Cooper. In other words, David Lynch kept the news that Watts would be acting with series star Kyle MacLachlan from her. Watts signed on anyway. As she explained to the crowd in a charming anecdote, she had been after another role with her Mulholland Drive director for a long time. Come for her storytelling style, stay for the surprise Lynch impression.

But if Watts read her Janey-E scenes without ever once being wise to the news that Dougie was, in fact, Agent Dale Cooper, does that mean the real Cooper won’t ever return to Twin Peaks? Fans have been bracing themselves for this possibility for a while now. It would be just like Lynch to hype audiences up for a Twin Peaks revival, only to deprive them of any quality time with the coffee-and-pie-loving FBI agent who helped make the original series such a smash hit.

There are plenty of alternate explanations here. Watts says some lines in her script were blacked out, so, perhaps that’s where the reveal happens. She also may not have gotten all of her scenes when she visited Lynch the first time. Or perhaps Cooper does come back, but he never shares a scene with Dougie’s long-suffering wife. Thanks to moves like redacted scripts and casting secrets, we’ll all find out together what Cooper’s fate may be in the last eight episodes of the series.

Meanwhile, before Watts took the Hall H stage, the panel’s moderator Damon Lindelof debuted a short film directed by Lynch just for the audience. Josh Dickey from Mashable transcribed the oddity as best he could:

The static fades and David Lynch is looking into the camera, and
appears to be crouching in a dark room. He holds up a golf ball. “This
is the golf ball that O.J. hit before going to prison ...” as the
screen turns back to static fuzz. But then the signal comes back in!
And Lynch once again addresses the camera: “I wanted to thank you all
for joining us here and spending some time with us," he said, in his
most flat and deliberate way. "Today you're going to meet some great
actresses and great actors, and I hope you have a very enjoyable ... ”

Visit Dickey’s full article for the rest, which includes a horse, a gun, a cat, and more. Twin Peaks returns Sunday, July 23 on Showtime.

Sheryl Lee (Laura Palmer/Maddy Ferguson)

Ah, the girl whose mysterious death started it all. She’ll probably forever be identified with the two roles she played for David Lynch—or perhaps, to some, as Katrina from Vampires—but Lee also enjoyed a stint on One Tree Hill as Ellie Harp, among other roles, including a supporting part opposite Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone and, more recently, the part of Karen Stern in Cafe Society.

Kyle MacLachlan (Agent Dale Cooper)

In the years since he played Agent Dale Cooper, Kyle MacLachlan has had no shortage of interesting roles. He’s played ill-fated lovers Trey MacDougal and Orson Hodge on Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives, respectively, as well as the Mayor in Portlandia, among many other roles.

Lara Flynn Boyle (Donna Hayward)

Although she was a relative rookie when Twin Peaks first aired, Lara Flynn Boyle went on to be one of the show’s biggest breakout stars. Her film repertoire includes credits in Men in Black II, Dead Poets Society, and Wayne’s World. Her longest-running TV role to date was as Helen Gamble in The Practice, in which she appeared for six years.

Mädchen Amick (Shelly Johnson)

Since Twin Peaks left the airwaves, Amick—who played poor, unfortunate Shelly Johnson—has been one of its most prolific alumni, with memorable roles in Gilmore Girls, ER, Gossip Girl, Witches of East End, and, most recently, Riverdale, among many others.

Kimmy Robertson (Lucy Moran)

Kimmy Robertson doesn’t always fetch doughnuts. She’s also played a wide swath of roles, including the feather duster in Disney’s original Beauty and the Beast, Milhouse’s short-lived girlfriend Samantha in The Simpsons, and Kimmy on The Louie Show—which one should not confuse with Louie, although the stars of both now live on FX.

Kenneth Welsh (Windom Earle)

You know what they say: one man’s insane ex-cop is another man’s foolish veep. At least, it seems that way with Kenneth Welsh, who played Windom Earle in Twin Peaks, as well as the vice president who didn’t believe Dennis Quaid about global warming in The Day After Tomorrow. Welsh, who had been an actor for decades before Twin Peaks, enjoyed a bit of a career high in the mid-aughts, which brought roles not only in the climate disaster film but also in films like The Aviator and The Exorcism of Emily Rose.

Russ Tamblyn (Lawrence Jacoby)

Before David Lynch brought him on as a sketchy doctor with multi-colored specs, Russ Tamblyn—yes, father to Amber Tamblyn—co-starred with Richard Beymer in West Side Story, in which he played Riff. Post-Peaks, you can find him, among other roles, in Django Unchained and Drive.

Sheryl Lee (Laura Palmer/Maddy Ferguson)

Ah, the girl whose mysterious death started it all. She’ll probably forever be identified with the two roles she played for David Lynch—or perhaps, to some, as Katrina from Vampires—but Lee also enjoyed a stint on One Tree Hill as Ellie Harp, among other roles, including a supporting part opposite Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone and, more recently, the part of Karen Stern in Cafe Society.

Kyle MacLachlan (Agent Dale Cooper)

In the years since he played Agent Dale Cooper, Kyle MacLachlan has had no shortage of interesting roles. He’s played ill-fated lovers Trey MacDougal and Orson Hodge on Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives, respectively, as well as the Mayor in Portlandia, among many other roles.

Lara Flynn Boyle (Donna Hayward)

Although she was a relative rookie when Twin Peaks first aired, Lara Flynn Boyle went on to be one of the show’s biggest breakout stars. Her film repertoire includes credits in Men in Black II, Dead Poets Society, and Wayne’s World. Her longest-running TV role to date was as Helen Gamble in The Practice, in which she appeared for six years.

Mädchen Amick (Shelly Johnson)

Since Twin Peaks left the airwaves, Amick—who played poor, unfortunate Shelly Johnson—has been one of its most prolific alumni, with memorable roles in Gilmore Girls, ER, Gossip Girl, Witches of East End, and, most recently, Riverdale, among many others.

James Marshall (James Hurley)

He might forever be the doleful James Hurley in Twin Peaks fans’ hearts, but James Marshall also made a name for himself in film with roles alongside heavyweights like Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding Jr. in A Few Good Men and Gladiator.

Ray Wise (Leland Palmer)

Few things will give you nightmares more than Ray Wise’s Joker-like smile when his Leland Palmer is possessed in Twin Peaks’s second season. And the actor has put that face to exceptional use in countless films and series since then—including on 24, How I Met Your Mother, Mad Men, and Fresh Off the Boat.

Peggy Lipton (Norma Jennings)

Perhaps known best to Twin Peaks fans as pie baker extraordinaire Norma Jennings, Peggy Lipton also co-starred with fellow Peaks survivor Dana Ashbrook in the TV series Crash, and most recently appeared as the grown-up Hannah in A Dog’s Purpose.

Dana Ashbrook (Bobby Briggs)

Dana Ashbrook doesn’t always play an obnoxious jock. He also played a straight-up criminal—Clyde Barrow in Bonnie & Clyde: The True Story—before joining Dawson’s Creek as Rich Rinaldi. Oh, and he’s also played a kidnapper on Law & Order: S.V.U..

Piper Laurie (Catherine Martell)

Like some of her co-stars, Piper Laurie had made a name for herself long before she stepped into the world of Twin Peaks—for instance, in the 1976 film adaptation of Carrie, in which she starred as Carrie’s mother, Margaret. But after Twin Peaks, Laurie continued making stops on other series, including Frasier, Will & Grace, and Law & Order: S.V.U., in which she played Dorothy Rudd, an abusive foster grandmother.

Joan Chen (Josie Packard)

In the years following Twin Peaks, Joan Chen proved she can do more than rock a pixie cut and a constant frown—the erstwhile Last Emperor star moved on to series including, recently, Empress Chabi in Netflix’s Marco Polo.

Kimmy Robertson (Lucy Moran)

Kimmy Robertson doesn’t always fetch doughnuts. She’s also played a wide swath of roles, including the feather duster in Disney’s original Beauty and the Beast, Milhouse’s short-lived girlfriend Samantha in The Simpsons, and Kimmy on The Louie Show—which one should not confuse with Louie, although the stars of both now live on FX.

Kenneth Welsh (Windom Earle)

You know what they say: one man’s insane ex-cop is another man’s foolish veep. At least, it seems that way with Kenneth Welsh, who played Windom Earle in Twin Peaks, as well as the vice president who didn’t believe Dennis Quaid about global warming in The Day After Tomorrow. Welsh, who had been an actor for decades before Twin Peaks, enjoyed a bit of a career high in the mid-aughts, which brought roles not only in the climate disaster film but also in films like The Aviator and The Exorcism of Emily Rose.

Russ Tamblyn (Lawrence Jacoby)

Before David Lynch brought him on as a sketchy doctor with multi-colored specs, Russ Tamblyn—yes, father to Amber Tamblyn—co-starred with Richard Beymer in West Side Story, in which he played Riff. Post-Peaks, you can find him, among other roles, in Django Unchained and Drive.